ISLAMIC LAW IN THE NEWS
- “The U.N. rights chief accused Afghanistan‘s ruling Taliban […] of a ‘shocking level of oppression’ of women and girls and said human rights in the country were in a state of collapse.” Taliban says it protects women’s rights within the bounds of Islamic law. For more content and context on the recent developments in Afghanistan, consult our Editor-in-Chief, Professor Intisar Rabb’s “Resource Roundup: Afghanistan, the Taliban, and Islamic Law.”
- In Malaysia, in response to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi‘s corruption case and the decision to discharge him that does not amount to an acquittal, Pas President Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang critically said: “[The decision] cannot be equated with the methods and provisions found within Islamic Sharia law, which is oriented towards the hereafter and emphasises justice regardless of one’s status.”
- After more than 20 years, Uganda opened its first Islamic bank.
- “With Russia’s sizeable Muslim population of 20-25 million, President Vladimir Putin signed a law introducing Islamic Banking in four Muslim republics last month to test the feasibility of the Islamic finance model.”
CASES AND FATWĀS
- “[T]hree Sharia law scholars determined the cultivated products from San Francisco-based start-up GOOD Meat can be considered halal, if they’re prepared with cells that come from an animal slaughtered in accordance with Islamic law.”
- In a recent interview in Hyderabad, Advocate Nizam Ali Khan, Speaker for Islam, clarified what he contended is a common misconception about Islamic law and religious conversion: “Islamic teachings do not recognize that you can force someone to convert to Islam. Even if a born Muslim does not follow the teachings of Islam, other practicing Muslims cannot force him to follow Islam; they can only urge him to do so.”
UPCOMING EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
PIL & Harvard Calendar:
- Student work opportunity: Research assistant, Widener Library, Harvard University.
- Talk: A Conversation on Justice with Guantánamo Bay Survivor Mohamedou Ould Slahi, Harvard Divinity School, September 18, 2023.
Global Calendar:
- Webinar: Revisiting the History of Medieval Libya (7th-16th centuries): New insight on the major Libyan tribes from the Antiquity to the Middle Ages, September 20, 2023.
- Conference: Celebrating the scholarship and teaching of Prof. Christopher Melchert, Pembroke College, Oxford, September 25, 2023.
- Position opening: 3-year Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in History, Magdalene College, Cambridge, 2024, September 29, 2023.
- Call for Abstracts: Thematic Dossier on the Indian Ocean, September 30, 2023.
- Call for Abstracts: The 3rd Malikussaleh International Conference on Law, Legal Studies, and Social Sciences, September 30, 2023.
- Position opening: Tenure-track assistant professor in 19th century Middle East history, Yale University, October 1, 2023.
- Position opening: Assistant Professor in Southeast Asian history, Brown University, October 2, 2023.
- Position opening: Associate or Full Indigenous and/or Black Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, October 10, 2023.
- Call for Papers: Symposium on Copyright in Islamic Legal Tradition, ISAR Research Center, Istanbul, October 15, 2023.
- Call for Papers: American Oriental Society’s 234th Meeting, October 15, 2023.
- Webinar: Revisiting the History of Medieval Libya (7th-16th centuries): Cyrenaica on the eve of the Islamic conquest through epigraphy and numismatics, October 18, 2023.
- Fall 2023 Works-in-Progress Workshop: Comparative Constitutional Law in the Global South, Columbia Law School, October 20-21, 2023.
- Call for Papers: Law and Society Association Annual Meeting Unsettling Territories: Tradition and Revolution in Law and Society, October 24, 2023.
- Fellowship: The American Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT), 2024-25, November 1, 2023.
- Conference: MESA’s 57th Annual Meeting, Montréal, Québec, Canada, November 2-5, 2023.
- Webinar: Revisiting the History of Medieval Libya (7th-16th centuries): The emirate of the Banū Tellīs in the 15th c. CE, November 22, 2023.
- Call for Papers: Annual Conference of the British Association for Islamic Studies, December 14, 2023.
- Webinar: Revisiting the History of Medieval Libya (7th-16th centuries): Shedding light on some Islamic sites and buildings in Cyrenaica, December 20, 2023.
- Position opening: Adjunct Lecturer in Modern Middle East, Babson College.
- Call for Applications: Interdisciplinary Scholars of Places, Movement and Cultural Practices Professor, New York University Abu Dhabi. Deadline: until the position is filled.
- Research Project: Historian/Researcher – Tudor Period/Elizabethan Era, and the Ottoman Empire during the Suleiman the Magnificent Period. Deadline: until the position is filled.
- Call for Submissions: The UCLA School of Law’s Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law (JINEL).
- Call for Manuscripts: Advances in the Study of Islam, Edinburgh University Press.
- Request for Open Submissions: AALS 2023 Annual Meeting, January 4-7, 2023. Submission deadlines vary.
- Webinar: Revisiting the History of Medieval Libya (7th-16th centuries): The jurisprudential corpus and the history of Ibadism in medieval Libya: additions and difficulties, January 24, 2024.
- Position opening: Postdoctoral opportunity in History of Islam/Arabic Studies, Leiden University, February 1, 2024.
- Webinar: Revisiting the History of Medieval Libya (7th-16th centuries): Looking for Libya in Coptic-Arabic historiographical sources, February 21, 2024.
- Webinar: Revisiting the History of Medieval Libya (7th-16th centuries): Partnership for Heritage. Documentation and heritage management for the protection of the Nafousa Mountains, April 17, 2024.
- Webinar: Revisiting the History of Medieval Libya (7th-16th centuries): Between Ṭarābulus and Aṭrābulus. The journey of the toponym and difficulties in determining its form, May 22, 2024.
- Webinar: Revisiting the History of Medieval Libya (7th-16th centuries): Surveying and documentation of the archaeological city of Barca (Al-Marj), June 26, 2024.
- Symposium on Copyright in Islamic Legal Tradition, Istanbul, June 28-29, 2024.
- Search for Editor: International Journal of Middle East Studies, until an appointment is made.
- MEM Fellowship for Graduate Students of Color.
- Scholarship: Islamic Scholarship Fund CAMBA Law Scholarship 2023.
- Internship opportunity: The Executive Office of the President, White House, various deadlines.
- Position opening: Academic mentor and field researcher in Iraq, Cordoba Peace Institute-Geneva (CPI) & ETH Zurich, rolling basis.
- Position opening: Academic mentor for researcher in Mogadishu, Cordoba Peace Institute-Geneva (CPI) & ETH Zurich.
- Position opening: Assistant Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History, University of Tennessee, Fall 2022. Deadline: until an appointment is made.
- Position opening: Postdoc at the Center for Social Concerns and the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion at the University of Notre Dame, July – September 2023. Deadline: until an appointment is made.
- Position opening: Columbia University, The Department of Art History and Archaeology Barbara Stoler Miller Assistant Professor, Indian and South Asian Art History. Deadline: until an appointment is made.
- Position opening: Associate Director, Center for Religious and Spiritual Life and Muslim Chaplain, Macalester College.